To amplify some of the business-related points already mentioned : War as an industry is itself profitable and the mobilization of resources toward the purpose

To amplify some of the business-related points already mentioned : War as an industry is itself profitable and the mobilization of resources toward the purpose of a war being actively prosecuted puts desirable numbers in a lot of peoples' spreadsheets. As opposed to run-of-the-mill 'defense spending', wherein materiel and training costs are limited by the nature of routine budgetary apparatus, an active war consumes gargantuan supplies of goods, from weapons and ordnance to socks and coffee, that need to be constantly replenished. And technical costs are free to spiral because the notion of failure in automated systems, communications, etc, is terrible to countenance. Funding is also easier to get during an active war because, well, 'THIS IS WAR!' The point in this thread from restalis about salesmanship is spot-on. It's also worth noting that the equities / stocks associated with war-oriented corporations are tremendously widespread in terms of portfolio inclusion. Nearly everybody has Lockheed, General Dynamics, etc etc etc in their retirement fund [for the somewhat circular reason that those stocks generally do perform in the long term].